Three Short Words
by Dawnmist of RiverClan
Summary: On the outside, Jade has always appeared fearless. Who knew one of her worst fears was three little words? Bade one-shot!


**Bade is amazing. Like, the most amazing couple I've ever laid eyes on! That's why writing **_**two **_**stories and **_**neither **_**being Bade is killing me. So, it's time for a Bade one-shot. **

**Did anyone else notice that not **_**once **_**in the show or on TheSlap does Jade ever tell Beck "I love you?" She's given him a "love you" in a reply to one of his updates, but I don't really think that counts. So that's what this story's about. It's going to be descriptive at first, but then it'll jump into a story.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned the show, would I even be **_**writing **_**a disclaimer?**

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><p>"<em>If I tell the world, I'll never say enough 'cause it was not said to you and that's exactly what I need to do if I'd end up with you."<br>_-Adele, "Chasing Pavements."

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><p>Eleven characters. Eight letters. Three words. One sentence.<p>

No one would have guessed that _that's _one of Jade West's greatest fears. She's Jade West, for the love of sweet noodles! On the outside, she appears hard and fearless; however, on the inside she is quite the opposite. She doesn't want anyone to know that; she won't show it, even to herself.

That's why she won't say it. She's scared. She's scared that she'll give him all her heart, and then he'll let her down, just like her parents and anyone else she's ever trusted (that's why she doesn't trust anymore).

This is how Jade views love: Give someone your heart, and they will mercilessly smash it. Love doesn't last. It doesn't exist. Eventually, they_ will_ let you down and leave you. It's only a question of when.

She didn't want to fall in love with Beck Oliver; it just _happened_. She beats herself up over it all the time now, thinking agreeing to go out with him was the worst mistake of her life. She keeps telling herself that she only goes out with him for the social status it gained her (and at first, she did), but it's become more than that. She won't admit it though. Not to herself or to anyone else. _Especially _Beck.

It's amazing how she's kept her secrets contained for a whole two and a half years, but even Jade knows that when the two of them are alone, she has come very close to spilling those three little words.

She's never come closer than she would that night.

_Knock knock knock._

Jade rapped on the stainless steel door of the RV. "Open up, Beck!" she shouted.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming!" Beck's muffled voice responded. "Please don't break down the door."

A moment later, the door opened. "Welcome," Beck said, grinning. He gestured for her to come in.

Jade smiled. "Hey." Jade felt she could usually cut back on her harshness and sarcasm when she was alone with Beck (he was never bothered by it anyway). She plopped herself down on his couch. "What're we going to do?"

"I don't know," Beck said, sitting down next to her. "What do you _want _to do?"

Jade shrugged. "You think of something."

"You're going to hate it."

"What? Your idea?"

Beck nodded. "You usually do."

"Well, I'm particularly bored and flexible tonight. Just suggest something."

Beck thought for a moment. "Well… I know it's not incredibly exciting, but we could order a pizza, work on our homework for a bit, and then maybe watch _Full House_? We still haven't finished the complete second season."

"Hmm," Jade murmured. "The pizza sounds good… You know how I feel about _Full House, _but even that sounds good. I'm kind of tired… do you think we could skip the homework?"

Beck grinned. "Sure. We do have all weekend to do it. I'll order the pizza."

"No onions!" Jade reminded him.

"I know," Beck smiled as he dialed the number.

A half an hour later, the pizza arrived. Beck thanked the delivery boy (who, like all the others, found it strange to be delivering food to an RV and not a house) and carried the pizza in.

"Looks like this half has the onions and this half doesn't," Beck informed Jade.

"Yeah, I could see that myself, thanks." Jade told him dryly.

Beck just shrugged and started eating the pizza.

"_Full House _now?" Beck asked once they had finished.

"Nah…" Jade stretched herself out luxuriously on the couch. "I changed my mind."

Beck frowned. "See? You hate my ideas."

"Some of them," Jade admitted nonchalantly.

Beck just rolled his eyes with a lazy grin. "Alright," he sighed. "What do _you _want to do?"

"Come up with something!" Jade whined.

"I already did." Beck reminded her. He stared directly into her eyes and Jade could have sworn he could see everything she was thinking and feeling. She wanted to look away. She couldn't. She hated this; it was like she was pinned to the spot as he looked at all her secrets. Stupid windows to the soul.

"Why are you always so negative?" Beck asked quietly after a few moments.

"I'm not _negative_…" Jade murmured. "I just like negative events sometimes… and making negative comments toward other people…"

"I'd call that negative," Beck chuckled. "But that's okay."

_Why, Beck?_ _Why is it okay with _you_? It's not okay with anyone else, just you. That's what made me love you. That's what threw me into this stupid mess in the first place. _That's what Jade was thinking afterward. But right now, her mind wasn't completely clear. She was only thinking about how unbelievably happy she was at the time. It was only then that she realized that Beck's face was only a mere few centimeters from hers.

"Beck?" She murmured.

"Hmm?"

"I—" Jade stopped herself suddenly, snapping back to full attention. _What am I DOING? _She wailed desperately to herself. No. No. _No_. Just no.

"What?" Beck asked quietly.

"I—I have to go," Jade said quickly. She stumbled out of the RV and into her car.

The second she got home, Jade collapsed onto her bed, burying her face in her quilt and pillows.

_What was I doing? _Jade asked herself desperately. _I almost told him. But I don't love him… Do I?_

Jade swallowed. As much as she hated to admit it, she had to come to realize how easily those words would have rolled off her tongue, how distraught she was after losing Beck last time… _No! I should have seen this before!_

But it was too late now. Jade knew it was. She had fallen into this terrible bottomless pit and she couldn't pull herself out. Now the truth was all too obvious. She _was _in love with Beck, and she couldn't deny it anymore, not even to herself.

Suddenly, her phone rang. She checked the caller ID. Beck, of course. _You needn't think I'm picking it up! _Jade thought (though secretly she longed to answer).

A couple second later, her phone vibrated. A text. From Beck, of course. She read it.

_Hey, babe. Why did you have to leave?_

Jade quickly typed a reply. With her speed came recklessness and the tears in her eyes blurred her vision. The message ended up like this:

_Nonnnw yur bussness Olvier. _

Beck replied.

_Of course it's my business! Please tell me._

Jade managed a more legible message this time:

_No._

_Don't make me come over there. _Beck replied.

_Don't you dare. _Jade typed furiously.

_I'm getting my keys now…_

_Please don't! _Jade rarely said please, but she desperately didn't want him to come over. If he came, who knew what she might end up saying (and regretting)?

But sure enough, five minutes later there was a knock at the bedroom door. "No!" Jade shouted. "Don't come in!"

"I'm coming in." Beck's voice told her.

"No… No you're not, because… I—I'm not actually accepting visitors right now!" She made a mad dash for the door to try and lock it, but it was too late. Beck was already in the room and she ended up slamming straight into him.

"Are you okay?" Beck asked helping her up and pulling her close.

"No!" Jade said, trying to get away.

"What's wrong?" Beck asked, giving her a small peck on the lips.

"Your—your breath smells like onion!" Jade accused, desperately trying to change the subject.

"Yes." Beck agreed. "That's because I ate onion on my pizza. I'm afraid it can't be helped."

"It's called a toothbrush!" Jade informed him. "Go home and use it!"

Beck shook his head. "Just tell me what's wrong. My breath's never forced you to leave before."

"Maybe I was just being polite!" Jade snapped back, though this was obviously not the case.

"Yeah. Right." Beck rolled his eyes. Everyone knew that if Jade had something to say, she'd come right out and say it. "_Something's _wrong. I'm not leaving until you tell me."

Jade grimaced. "You'll be waiting a long time, then."

Beck stared at her a moment, then blinked. He sat down on her bed and shrugged. "Well, okay. I don't think it has to be this hard, but I have the time."

Jade let out a sigh. "You aren't giving up, are you?"

"No."

"Why?" Jade pouted, stamping her foot (she had learned she was often more likely to get her way with Beck by being "cute" and pouty rather than threatening, as much as it disgusted her).

Beck just stared at her. "If something's wrong, I want to help." He replied as if the answer were obvious. "I love you."

And there go those three stupid words again. How did he say them so easily? Jade stared back and opened her mouth as if she was going to say something, but she found her throat had gone dry and she had no words to say.

Beck was still staring at her expectantly, just like he normally did after he said he loved her. Jade was only now working out why. _He wants me to say it back! He's noticed I never have…_

And then another epiphany slammed into Jade: _If I don't say it soon, he'll eventually leave me for someone who will… someone like Tori… oh, please no…_

If Jade wasn't panicked and confused at the time, if her head hadn't been spinning like she was on a carnival ride, she probably would have noticed the irony of this whole situation. She wanted to save herself from pain by keeping those words contained, but Beck would leave her _because _she kept these words contained, therefore causing herself the same pain she was attempting to avoid. Of course, being the person whose heart was at risk, she probably wouldn't have found it all that funny.

_Now what? _Jade thought desperately. _Do I say nothing and lose Beck, or do I tell him I love him and risk losing everything?_

The more Jade thought, the more she realized that there was only one choice: tell him. It wouldn't have mattered if she kept it from him forever, because it would still be true. You could try to tell yourself that you were a kumquat for all your life, but no matter how many times you said it, it would never be true. It was too late for Jade now; if Beck dumped her she'd be heartbroken, weather he knew it or not.

Jade didn't know how long she'd been thinking. It could have been seconds. It could have been hours. Either way, Beck was still staring intently at Jade, waiting for her to say something, anything, in response.

Jade drew in a deep breath. "Beck?"

"Yes?" Beck spoke as calmly and plainly as if they were simply discussing fruit tart recipes.

"I—" Jade chocked out the single sound and stopped, struggling for the rest. _Come on, it's only three words! _She told herself. _You're one-third of the way there… _"I—"

Beck raised an eyebrow. "You what?" He prompted patiently. He obviously realized that whatever this was, it was the same thing she had almost told him earlier in the RV.

"I—I…" Jade wrung her hands together. She could feel her heart starting to beat faster, and her forehead was even starting to feel a little damp (she later attempted to convince herself that this part was only her imagination; Jade would never admit she had been sweating, especially if it was because she had been nervous).

She tried again. "I—" Jade bit her lip. _I can't do this!_

Beck blinked and a sparkle of concern and sympathy glinted in his eyes. "Are you okay, Jade?" Beck asked gently, standing up and walking over to her. He put his arms around her and rubbed her back comfortingly.

Jade breathed in one more time and let the air out slowly. "Yes," she breathed, hugging Beck back. Both Beck and Jade were silent for many long moments. _Now or never._

"I love you," Jade murmured quietly, only just loud enough for Beck to hear.

She felt Beck draw in a sharp breath—of shock, maybe?—and he pulled back a little so he could look her in the eye. The expression on his face was clear; normally he was tough to read, and when he let emotions show it was only the faintest trace of his feelings. Not this time though. Jade could easily see that he was surprised, and yet the light in his eyes danced with delight.

"Really?" He whispered (Jade reflected that his smile was bright enough to light the entire city of New York for a year).

"Yes, really," Jade's tone was harsh, but she was smiling and speaking softly all the same. "You don't think I went through all that trouble just to _lie _to you, do you?"

"I love you too."

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><p><strong>The end! That came out <strong>_**way **_**longer than I expected. It was six pages! :O Maybe that explains why it took so long to write. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!**

**I put in a refrance to my first fanfiction, Fire and Water, where Beck gets the complete second season of Full House. In this one they mention that they haven't finished it. In case anyone's interested.**

**I hope you liked it! Remember, reviews, favorites, and alerts are awesome! If you could just take one minute of your time to give me feedback so I can be a better writer, I'd really appreciate it. ;)**


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